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Germany faces possible 7 GW supply deficit from 2022 – TSOs

27/02/202009:16Electricity Market

Germany may need neighbours to cover up to 7 GW of its peak potential power demand during cold, dark periods of low wind output from 2022, network operators said in a study on Wednesday.

The TSOs determined Germany’s supply balance during a so-called Dunkelflaute – a period of winter with next to no renewable energy – would slip from a surplus to a shortfall within the next three years.

Germany was still likely to enjoy a supply buffer of almost 3 GW of capacity this year and next, according to grid operators Amprion, Tennet, TransnetBW and 50Hertz.

However, the closure of Germany’s last nuclear power plants and the start of an exit from coal would tip the country into a deficit of 7.2 GW by the end of 2022, they said.

Even without coal exit plans presently making their way through parliament, Germany would still see the potential emergence of a 1.5 GW deficit as it proceeds to close its last 8 GW of nuclear capacity in the coming years.

Crude oil futures turned higher on Thursday, shrugging off an unexpected rise in U.S. crude stockpiles as traders focused on falling gasoline stocks and a further decline in crude stored at the New York Mercantile Exchange’s delivery hub in Cushing, Oklahoma. Moreover, expectations for further oil outputs cuts by Russia starting from July added to the upbeat sentiment.